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Ricky Gervais in Talks for Human Lead in Disney's 'The Muppets' Sequel

by Ethan Anderton
December 17, 2012
Source: Heat Vision

After shooting a cameo for The Muppets that ended up on the cutting room floor, it looks like Disney is enlisting the talents of the original "The Office" creator and comedian Ricky Gervais for a much larger role this time. Heat Vision has word that Gervais is now in talks to take the lead human role in the sequel, which will be just as involved as Jason Segel's role from the first film last year. Ty Burrell ("Modern Family") recently replaced Christoph Waltz as an Interpol agent in pursuit of our favorite puppets for some reason, but details on the character Gervais will be playing are unavailable as the script is being kept secret.

Gervais has already taken time to chill out with some friends of the Muppets as he stopped by "Sesame Street" back in 2009. Here's one of the scenes he did with Elmo to give us an idea of how this will play out:

Gervais is one of my favorite comedians, and his hosting of the Golden Globes has been a breath of fresh air in the stuffy awards season. Of course, he'll be holding back some of the adult humor for the Disney film, but the above clip of Gervais on "Sesame Street" shows that he'll have no problem with that. However, we're still wondering how this story will play out with Segel not returning to write or star. James Bobin is back to direct with a script he co-write with Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller, so we're hoping for the best when the film starts shooting in London next year. Stay tuned.

Filed under Casting, Movie News

From around the web:

l.21

why does it need a human lead. The first three movies, the best, didn't have human leads. The muppets do fine on there own. but ricky is funny
JM

"Holding back SOME of the adult humor"? He'd better hold it ALL back. Muppets and profane jackasses do not mix.
- tommythegreenranger
  
  Ricky isn't a profane jackass so it's all good. I have seen stuff with him in it and he isn't one of those comedians.
  - JM
    
    I have seen his Twitter feed, and he IS.
mooreworthy

He's hilarious to me. Would see that for sure
Dan

Bad, bad idea. he isnt well liked in America and thinks he is funnier than he is. wont draw in a single person and may deter families. they need either no human lead, or someone like neil patrick harris or taylor swift.
- http://www.thebiglistofpubs.com/ Bibowski
  
  While I agree with you that his style of comedy might be a bit too harsh for a fun loving movie like the Muppets, saying he thinks he is funnier than he is, is way off the mark. He's risen from the depths almost entirely on his own, which a lot of other comedians cannot say. When he's left to his own devices with no restrictions, he's probably the funniest comedian in the world. When his hands are tied though (i.e. Golden Globes round 2), things get a bit messy.
  - Dan
    
    The HBO Talking Funny special showed his lack of awareness of what truly makes something funny.
    - http://www.thebiglistofpubs.com/ Bibowski
      
      You really think so? I thought he made some pretty good points in that show. Ironically, I didn't think many people were very funny in that special, it was more of a discussion about comedy. It was definitely entertaining, but it wasn't exactly a stand up special.